1944: The Final Defence

When I bought this DVD I had expected that it would be a fictional account of the 1944 Russian attack on Finland and in particular the Battle of Tali-Ihantala. What I had actually bought was something somewhat different; it was a drama-documentary about the fighting from a Finnish perspective.

The film has been heavily criticised in some quarters, and one reviewer described it as being a poorly made, low-budget film of the sort that you might expect a re-enactment group to produce. In my opinion it was not. It tells the narrative of events from a purely Finnish point of view, and does it using a number of vignettes that are based on real events. Considerable use has been made of actual vehicles used by both sides (the exception being a KV-1 that has been mocked up on what looks like a T-54 or T-55 chassis), and the uniforms seemed to look very authentic.

I certainly feel that this DVD was well worth watching, and at a price of less than £5.00 I don't feel that I have been sold something that was not worth what I paid.